A Study Of Early Chinese Film And Chinese Aesthetic Modernity: 1896-1937

Following with the second industrial revolution,early films originated in Europe around 1890 s.Soon afterwards they appeared in China,and were subsumed in the genealogy of public entertainment as a new media.Early films not only develop a new dimension for the Chinese people’s everyday life but also provide a necessary media for China’s process to modernity.In that way,early films become a principal element in China’s pursuit of Aesthetic modernity.Based on the above mentioned,we try to choose early films as a point of penetration.We will put early films in the development track of Chinese society and the background of urban culture,so as to survey how they show Aesthetic modern transition in the ever-changing of modern times.Since the meaning of films is not only in the films themselves,we will not confine our discussion within the interior text of films.External elements such as historical context,production mechanism and so on will also be taken into account of our research.We insist that early films provide us a polysemantic text which should be interpreted based on Marxist historical materialism and the historical context of China’s transition process from a traditional agricultural society to a modern industrial society in the 20 th century.This will be the logical starting point for the dissertation.The dissertation consists three parts: the introduction,the main text and the conclusion.The main text is divided into four chapters:In the first Chapter,we will start with “the spatial dimension” to establish a research view on Chinese early films from the interaction relations between films and cities.In that way,we can probe into how early films reflect one aspect of cultural transition of modernity as a symbol of modernization and urbanization.In the second Chapter,we will probe into the complex interactive mechanism between subject and object during the film-watching process under the context of early 20 th century.We will also discuss how Chinese people finish their self-renewing in the complex mechanism to realize the subjective conscious as both the Chinese ethnic group and an individual.The film actress in the early 20 th century draw great attentions,especially their wonderful bodies.How did their bodies change? What kind of liberation did their bodies have during the transformation process,and what kind of imprisonment did they encounter? How did their bodies participate in national discourse? During the process of participation,how did their personal will be negotiated with the grand discourse of the nation-state? The above questions will also be included in the scope of this chapter.In the third Chapter,we will inspect the relationship between “voice” in early films and modernity.How did “voice” in early films become a symbol and tool for establishing the nation-state concept,and how did it promote China to make a sound with the joint efforts of the vernacular movement and the Chinese film movement?Early film songs are regarded as having both decadent music and revolutionary music.What are the reasons and foundations of such a distinction,and what are the effects and consequences? Women who lost their voices in the long feudal society now have more opportunities to speak with the help of films.Is this meant to be that they can free from the discipline of males inside and outside the screen and the feudal ethics to make their own voices? All of these are the direct objectives to be discussed in this chapter.In the fourth Chapter,we will focus our attention on the modern turning of Aesthetic spirit.No matter the political and economic system but also the economic mode of production and scientific and cultural thought have undergone tremendous upheavals in the early 20 th century.Under the wave of “learning from the advanced technologies in the west” and “the eastward transmission of western sciences”,China has embarked its difficult and persistent way of exploring modernity.Early films which were introduced from the west at the end of the 19 th century are the witness of the process.It must be pointed out that the modern aesthetic spirit is not a fixed concept.It takes “newness” as its essence,and is always keeping pace with Times.Therefore,we try to base it on the specific historical context,i.e.we will make a better understanding of the evolvement and historical features of Chinese aesthetic spirit transformation by analyzing and researching the development of the early films.Though the above analysis,we find that early films,as a new style of popular entertainment and consumption under the modern industrial civilization and urban culture,have natural connection with modernity.It conveys new social concepts,expresses new aesthetic experience and lead new aesthetic trend.The aesthetic modernity carried by the early films is not the same,but changes with different social requirements of a particular historical period.Generally speaking,it is in accordance with the single-dimension of “Law of Beauty” at the macro level while it fully embodies the complex facts in the specific historical context at the micro level.It has experienced a logical transition from the dimension of “human liberation” in the1920 s to the dimension of “national independence” in the 1930 s.It gives us an insight into how to continue to promote aesthetic modernity: we must always adhere to the highest standard of “Law of Beauty”,insist to the orientation of advance Aesthetic culture,and persist to promote sustainable development of social productive forces and continuous improvement of human beings.